Quick question any experience of acupuncture and M.S and the pros and cons? Also reflexology? Thanks x
Hi Lisa,
There’s absolutely no reason you can’t have acupuncture, but I personally got negligible benefit from it. Maybe a very borderline increase in resilience for about 48 hours afterwards, but not dramatic, and certainly not enough to last the whole week 'til the next session. I was lucky to have a very ethical practitioner, who suggested we stop, when he realised I was not experiencing pronounced benefits. I think there are a lot out there who would keep taking the money, regardless whether the patient was reporting any improvement, and I probably would have kept paying and paying, in case I hadn’t given it enough of a chance.
So by all means, give it a go, as your results may vary, but set some kind of mental time limit - e.g. “If I haven’t noticed anything by 5 sessions, I’m not going any more”. Otherwise you might just keep throwing money at it, waiting for it to work.
I haven’t tried reflexology, but I believe it’s one of the very few alternative therapies recognised by NICE as potentially offering some benefit to PwMS. This means doctors are officially allowed to tell patients they might find it helpful. Not the same as saying there’s proof it works, but there’s cautious recognition that there have been some reported benefits.
I asked my doc if she had any idea how it might work, and she was fairly open-minded, and said it was possible stimulation of the feet might somehow encourage nerve transmission, but she couldn’t give a more scientific explanation than that!
Tina
x
Same experience here, tried it a few times and noticed no benefit to myself (nothing bad either).
On the acupuncture front, the Chinese medicine doctor I saw a few years back was honest about it and said something along the lines of, “Acupuncture won’t cure your MS - but it may help to alleviate specific symptoms” and I’d certainly say it’s worth giving it a go for any sort of pain, bladder problems, vertigo, etc.
My biggest success with acupuncture was when I’d done something excrutiatingly painful to a muscle in my back and, wow, acupuncture had it sorted within minutes. I can’t recommend acupuncture enough for acute symptoms.
Unfortunately, electro-acupuncture was not a success for me; the Chinese doctor thought it was worth giving it a go because her other MS patients had got some benefit from it. Never again (for me).
After trying acupuncture, I moved on to an osteopath who tried Bowen Therapy on me for sciatic pain. Well, he thought it was a load of old codswallop but I thought it helped. It was nice and relaxing, whatever.
As for reflexology, ohhh, it’s lovely! I’ve occasionally seen warnings that PwMS shouldn’t have too much reflexology because they’re at higher risk than the general population of getting reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), where [bad explanation] nerve damage on one side of the body copies itself onto the other side and causes chronic pain.
Your local MS Therapy Centre may offer some treatments at a very reasonable cost, and other Therapy Centre users will be able to give you their opinions on the treatments. I suspect your “local” Centre is some way away http://www.msntc.org.uk/
One thing I would say is that you’ll almost certainly get more benefit if you feel comfortable with whoever’s doing the treatment - so checking with friends and local chat forums and your hairdresser (aha, hairdressers know everything :>) is a worthwhile investment of time.
Good luck and enjoy whatever you decide to try!
Lolli xx
I had it a few months back because the burning in my feet was unbearable. 4 courses and the burning was gone for good but it didnt help my mobiliity. Have also used in the past with great success for anxiety and insomnia. As always. Do your homework to find a good one and make sure they are familiar with ms.
Am getting it through the NHS. Have had 4 sessions & feel some of my pain is easing. I have severe neuropathic & musculoskeletal pain left shoulder/arm & hip/pelvis/thigh. Apparently if you feel no benefit after 6 sessions there’s little point continuing. I hope it continues to give me some relief from pain, which is so debilitating. Anne
Thanks for your advice. Think I may leave it for now as I’m not sure it’s going to help my symptoms. I used to have reflexology but more for relaxation and loved it however think I may make a conscious effort to have it once a month again…I’m also going to hopefully have some neuro physio to help things. I’m currently having a relapse so quite determined to try and ensure I do things to try and help myself instead of forgetting about me. That gets to be a habit when your a mommy 
xxx
Had acupuncture for a year, a bit after I was first diagnosed. Never saw any physical benefit at all. My acupuncturist was a good therapist (in the sense of me talking and her listening in a constructive way) which is why I carried on with it for so long. MS symptoms improved after I stopped.